This invention relates to air diffusers, and more particularly, to air diffusers which are particularly well adapted for mounting in a wall or ceiling of a room for discharging air into the room from an air distribution system.
Present day interior designers prefer uniplanar ceilings uninterrupted by anything which protrudes into the room, such as the directional vanes of air diffusers. This brought about the use of perforated plates across the outlet of a diffuser, which achieves the effect desired by the designers, but has the disadvantage of directing air downwardly into a room instead of parallel to the ceiling, which is the desired goal. The present invention is directed to the provision of a panel across the outlet of the diffuser which itself novel directional openings therethrough whereby the air is directed in a plane substantially parallel to the plane thereof as it leaves the diffuser and provides the desired uninterrupted appearance as above mentioned.
It is a primary object to the present invention to afford a novel air diffuser.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel air diffuser, which is adapted to be mounted in a wall or ceiling of a room, for discharging air from an air distribution system into the room in a novel and expeditious manner.
A further object is to afford a novel air diffuser of the aforementioned type, wherein the parts thereof are constituted and arranged in a novel and expeditious manner effective to cause the air flowing therefrom to pass in a discharge pattern flowing laterally from the diffuser along the surface of the wall or ceiling in which the diffuser is mounted.
Air diffuser units, the purpose of which is to cause air to be discharged therefrom along a ceiling or wall of a room have been heretofore known in the art, being disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 26,723, issued to E. F. Averill et al. However, air diffusers of such a type, theretofore known in the art, have commonly had several inherent disadvantages, such as, for example, being large and bulky in size; being inefficient in operation; causing undesirable air flow directly away from the wall or ceiling in which the air diffuser is mounted; causing undesirable turbulence within the diffuser; being complicated in construction and operation, being difficult to install and adjust; or, being difficult and expensive to manufacture, and the like. It is an important object of the present invention to overcome such disadvantages.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel air diffuser for discharging air into a room through a wall or ceiling of such a room, wherein the parts thereof are constituted and arranged in a novel and expeditious manner effective to afford directional discharge of the air into the room laterally along the wall or ceiling in which the diffuser is mounted, without any substantial amount of air discharge from the diffuser directly out into the room in a direction normal to the aforementioned wall or ceiling.
Yet another object of the present invention is to afford a novel air diffuser of the aforementioned type, wherein the discharge pattern of the air may be quickly and easily adjusted in a novel and expeditious manner.
A further object of the present invention is to afford a novel air diffuser having a lanced plate providing apertures therein, the convolutions of which impart direction to the air in which the shape and arrangement of the apertures assure improved air distribution and less resistance to air flow from the diffuser than with air diffusers of this type heretofore known in the art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an air diffuser having a plurality of deflector modules in which the individual modules may be quickly and easily assembled together to form a compact, unitary lanced plate as described above in a novel and expeditious manner, and in which the individual modules may be replaced or reoriented for directionally readjusting the air flow from the diffuser.
An object ancillary to the foregoing is to afford a novel air diffuser of the aforementioned type wherein the individual modules are releasably held in place in a frame by elongated fastening bars, which may be slid into and out of operative relation to the modules.
Yet anther object of the present invention is to provide a novel air diffuser in which a plate-like member is detachably secured to the wall or ceiling in a novel and expeditious manner whereby the plate may readily be extended outwardly from the ceiling several inches and held in this position to facilitate visual inspection and cleaning of the inside of the diffuser. A related object is to provide such an air diffuser in which the plate-like member, which embodies a plurality of lanced plates, when once extended away from the wall or ceiling, may be detached therefrom on one side and is hingedly secured at the opposite side so that it may readily be swung outwardly from the wall or ceiling to facilitabe replacement or reorientation of the plates.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel air diffuser of the aforementioned type, which is practical and efficient in operation and which may be readily and economically produced commercially.
Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show the preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.